Our “Refugees” from Ukraine

Tomorrow (March 15) marks the half-year mark of my time in Macedonia and the Peace Corps.  Time does seem to be flying by in the Peace Corps world, but our group still has ahead of us another 20 months, so there is plenty of time remaining to work!

However, no longer are the Mak18s the newest group of Peace Corps volunteers for Macedonia.  A handful of Americans have been invited to serve in Macedonia!  The new Mak19s have about 6 months to wait before they start in September, but it is exciting to meet (read: creep) via Facebook some of the future volunteers. 

I also feel bad for this first group of volunteers because most (if not all) of them had originally been chosen to serve in Ukraine.  Given the evacuation of the PCVs within the country, those originally invited to serve in Ukraine were reassigned to other countries.  They were scheduled to start sometime in March (this month), but now they must wait another 6 months before they begin their Peace Corps adventure.  If they were anything like me, they would have already ended their jobs, purchased all of the items to bring to site, and learned a bit of the language.  They may have also mentally prepared for their journey ahead, and now they must reimagine what their new country will be like and which challenges they will face here.  But if they are like me, they will eventually come to love the people and culture here and happily accept their new assignment.  All of the other PCVs in Macedonia are excited to welcome these new Mak18s when Ukraine was unable to accept them.

On another subject, there is one thing about Macedonia that is the same as in the US.  March is the dullest month of the year.  Anyone who really knows me is aware that I hate the month of March.  Even though the weather here is warmer than I am used to in Chicago during March, work has become endless and repetitive.  I am finally at the stage in Peace Corps where I do not need to fabricate things on my list in order to feel like I am accomplishing something.  As was the case in the States, accomplishing something on my list is like cutting a head off of a hydra- by the time I accomplish one task, two or three more are added to my list. 

What sort of things am I busy with?  Last weekend AIESEC Skopje organized the seminar for Go Clean in Prilep.  We finally met with about 30 high school students in a formal setting, and pretty soon we will review and select the candidates to become team leaders in the municipality.  But it looks like the NGO in charge of the project will continue to rely on us to coordinate the activities in Prilep, so our involvement with the project has no end in sight.  Simultaneously, I have been working with other members of AIESEC to promote the AIESEC internships.  This involves standing in the universities and passing out flyers to students, as well as visiting classrooms to give a short speech on the importance of internships and explaining to students how to apply for internships through our organization.  It is very boring work, but promoting the internships is the main focus of our organization, and the income we make from the small participation fees provide the funds for the local projects we will eventually organize.

Go Clean Seminar at the Prilep Library

AIESEC Prilep President, Megi, facilitating a presentation

All of the participants and facilitators at the Go Clean Seminar in Prilep

The Local Coordinators of Prilep for Go Clean!

Promoting AIESEC Internships

AIESEC hard at work at the Economics Faculty

So, just as in the States, March can be best described as a “numb” month.  But despite how boring or normal this experience (and by the transitive property, this post) seems to be, it is in many ways a profound moment.  Life here is beginning to become normal.  I no longer experience on a daily basis an awe-inspiring revelation, but also I am no longer burdened by the problems of transitioning to my new life here.  I have projects to accomplish, and I am already comfortable with the methods I need to employ to meet those goals.  In Peace Corps talk, I have switched gears from focusing on PC Goal #2 (To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served) to Peace Corps Goal #1 (To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women- in other words, development). 

So this post answers the questions that many of you have back home- yes, I am busy.  I am actually surprisingly busier than I thought I would be this early in my Peace Corps career.  But I am happy working this much and could not ask for anything different.

Some others ask if I will travel to another country sometime soon.  Yes- at the end of March, my fellow site mates and I will leave Prilep and head south for a day trip in Greece.  My goals in Salonica- to eat fresh seafood, drink a beer with lots of hops, and buy some American products that I cannot find in Macedonia.  The daytrip will not be lofty, but it is what I strive for as I march forward through this dull month.